Private James Alexander Arnell
Died Sept. 30, 1915

James Arnell was the first Mount Royal College student killed in battle during the First World War. Born in Springbank, Arnell came from a pioneering Alberta family, active in the Baptist church. Arnell enrolled at Mount Royal in 1912 and played on the rugby team. Upon graduation, he joined the 10th Battalion, Canadian Infantry Corps, Alberta Regiment. He served and died in France at the age of 20 years when a rifle grenade fell on the roof of a dug-out, killing him instantly. Private Arnell received the 1914–1915 Star, a medal awarded to soldiers by the British government for service between August 1914 and December 1915. Private Arnell is buried in Berks Cemetery Extension in Belgium.

Private John Hawley Ross
Died April 24, 1916

John Hawley Ross was the second Mount Royal student killed in the First World War. Born in Toronto, Ross attended Mount Royal from 1912 to 1913 and later worked as a clerk. He enlisted on Aug. 23, 1915 in Halifax, N.S. with the Royal Canadian Regiment. Serving less than a year, Private Ross was instantly killed in France by a bomb dropped from an enemy airplane and is buried at the Brandhoek Military Cemetery in Belgium. Along with fellow Mount Royal student Private James Arnell, he received the 1914–1915 Star, a First World War medal awarded by the British government. This bronze four-pointed star was given to soldiers for service between August 1914 and December 1915.

Private Cecil Wallar Duke
Died May 19, 1916

Cecil Wallar Duke was born in Havercork, Ont. in 1895 and lived in Banff before attending Mount Royal College during its first two years of operation. A well-known and popular athlete, Duke was the star player on the Mount Royal College hockey team in 1911/12 and the lacrosse team in 1912/13. After leaving Mount Royal, Duke worked as a brakeman on the Canadian Pacific Railway line from Calgary to Edmonton. He was one of the first to join the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles, British Columbia Regiment and was killed in France at the age of 22 years. He is buried in Belgium at the Menin Road South Military Cemetery. Private Duke is also remembered on the Banff Cenotaph erected by the Mount Rundle Chapter IODE.

Lieutenant George Lloyd Lewis
Died Sept. 16, 1916

George Lloyd Lewis was born in Ontario in 1895, came to Calgary with his parents, and attended Mount Royal College during its first two years of operation. Lewis loved sports and played on the 1911/1912 Mount Royal hockey team and the 1912 rugby team. Before enlisting with the Royal Canadian Regiment in 1915, he spent six months with the 103rd Regiment of Calgary. Lieutenant Lewis was killed in action at the age of 21 years during the Battle of the Somme in an attack south of Courcelette. Like many other Canadian soldiers, his body was never found, but his name and memory are preserved at the Vimy Memorial in Pas de Calais, France.

Lieutenant Everett Boyd Jackson Fallis
Died April 9, 1917

Everett Fallis was born in Haldimand, Ont. and came to Calgary when his father, Rev. Dr. Samuel Fallis — a personal friend of Mount Royal College founding Principal Rev. Dr. George W. Kerby — became the minister at Central Methodist Church. Fallis attended Mount Royal College from 1911 to 1915 He enlisted with the 102nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry, Central Ontario Regiment. He went overseas as a private, but quickly gained battlefield commissions to lieutenant. Fallis was killed on the first day of the Battle of Vimy Ridge by sniper fire while holding an enemy trench that was taken in the initial attack. According to his commanding officer, Fallis was deserving of the highest award for gallantry that day. He is buried at the Villers Station Cemetery in Pas de Calais, France.

Corporal William Rolfe Fox
Died April 14, 1917

William Fox was born in Duluth, Minnesota, the oldest son of Sarah and Henry Fox. A talented athlete, Fox attended Mount Royal College in 1912/13 and played on the lacrosse and rugby teams. The latter won the Intercollegiate Championship in 1913. He enlisted with the 10th Battalion, Canadian Infantry Alberta Regiment. Corporal Fox was attacked by poisoned shrapnel at the Battle of Vimy Ridge. He died from his wounds and is buried at Étaples Military Cemetery in France.

Private Hans Raskesen
Died Oct. 24, 1917

Hans Raskesen was born in Alslev, Denmark in 1890. While his parents remained in Denmark, he attended Mount Royal College before joining the 50th Battalion, Canadian Infantry Corps, Alberta Regiment. Like fellow Mount Royal student Private James Arnell, he had trained in Alberta with the 191st Battalion. Private Raskesen was killed by enemy shell fire when he was manning a post south of Passchendaele. He was 27 years old. He is buried at the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial in France.

Lieutenant Harold Stone Musgrove
Died Aug. 9, 1918

Harold Stone Musgrove, a native Albertan, was born in Canmore in 1895. He attended Mount Royal College before enlisting in August 1915 as a 2nd Lieutenant with the Canadian Corps Cavalry Regiment. Lieutenant Musgrove later served briefly with the 57th Squadron of the Royal Air Force, founded in April 1918, and was killed five months later in France. Musgrove is buried and commemorated in Arras Flying Services Memorial in Pas de Calais, France and commemorated on the Canmore Cenotaph in Alberta.

Lieutenant Gordon Shaw Wilkin
Died Sept. 11, 1918

Gordon Wilkin was born in Assiniboia, S.K. and came to Alberta with his family, enrolling at Mount Royal College in 1911. Before joining the Flying Corps in Toronto in March 1917, Wilkin worked as a bookkeeper for the Calgary Gas Company and developed a wide circle of friends. In England, he served as an instructor on the Handley-Page aircraft. At the time of his death in 1918, Flight Lieutenant Wilkin was serving with the No. 2 Auxiliary School of Aerial Gunnery with the Royal Air Force. Wilkin is buried in the Ipswich Cemetery in the United Kingdom.

Lieutenant Gordon Shaw Wilkin Military Memorial Bursary generously funded by Margaret Southern. 

Private Roswell Jay Shantz
Died Nov. 4, 1918

Roswell Jay Shantz was born in Kitchener, Ont. in 1899 and came to Carstairs, Alta. with his Methodist family, who sent him and his brother to attend Mount Royal College in 1911. After leaving Mount Royal, Shantz remained in Calgary, working as a mechanic and eventually joining Lord Strathcona’s Horse, Royal Canadian Armoured Corps. Private Shantz died of influenza on Nov. 4, 1918 — just days before an armistice was signed to end the First World War on Nov. 11, 1918.

Pilot Officer Edwin Graham Milton Anderson
Died Sept. 1, 1941

Edwin Anderson, the first Mount Royal student to be killed in action during the Second World War, was born in 1920 and attended Mount Royal in 1940, when he was elected president of the High School class. The Chinook Yearbook called him “a modest and shy student” and remarked he was “a loyal enthusiast of the air force after the Christmas Exams.” Upon leaving Mount Royal, Anderson enlisted as a Pilot Officer in the 102 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force and was killed on Sept. 1, 1941. Anderson went missing piloting a Whitley bomber, which was later found to have been shot down over Molenbeersel, Limburg, Belgium. Pilot Officer Anderson is buried in Schaffen Communal Cemetery in Diest, Belgium,

Pilot Officer Douglas Spencer Aitken
Died March 8, 1942

Spencer Aitken came to Calgary from Lethbridge to attend Mount Royal College in 1937/38, joining the hockey and rugby teams as well as serving as art editor of the 1937/38 Chinook Yearbook. The yearbook congratulated him on being “outstanding in College sports”, and noted that Aitken made many friends at Mount Royal. Always wanting to be a pilot, Aitken joined Unit 403 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was killed on March 8, 1942 when his Spitfire plane went missing over enemy territory. He is buried in the Runnymede Memorial Cemetery in the United Kingdom.

Pilot Officer Douglas Spencer Aitken Military Memorial Bursary generously funded by Canadian Legacy Project.

Pilot Officer Arthur Beverly Polley
Died June 11, 1942

Arthur Polley was born in 1913, lived in Calgary with his family, and attended Mount Royal College in the 1930s. Polley was a teacher at Beaver Lodge, then Principal at Craigmyle School. He was an avid badminton player, skater and curler. When he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Pilot Officer, Polley left behind his young wife, who was living in Strathmore, Alta. Pilot Officer Polley died on June 11, 1942 in a flying accident at Chater, Man., when two aircrafts collided at Charter Relief Aerodrome. He is buried at Burnsland Cemetery in Calgary.

Flying Officer George Noel Keith
Died Aug. 4, 1942

Noel Keith was born in Cardston, Alta.,but lived in Taber, Alta. before coming to Mount Royal College in 1938. Keith served on Students’ Council as the Men’s Athletics representative. The Chinook Yearbook said he was “interested in everything around the college” Flying Officer Keith joined the Royal Canadian Air Force serving with the 402 and 72 Squadrons. He received a Distinguished Flying Cross for destroying seven enemy aircraft and damaging two others before being shot down by anti-aircraft fire. He bailed from the aircraft but later succumbed to the injuries he suffered during evacuation. Flying Officer Keith was killed in action at the age of 22 and is buried in Agira Canadian War Cemetery in Sicily.

Captain Douglas Gordon Purdy
Died Aug. 19, 1942

Douglas Purdy was born in 1920, attended Mount Royal College and enlisted into the 14th Army Tank, Calgary Regiment of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps. Purdy’s regiment was the first tank regiment of the Canadian army to go into battle with the enemy and the first engaged in amphibious assault during the Second World War. Purdy was killed in action during the Battle of Dieppe at the age of 22. He drowned when his tank sank one hundred yards from shore, struck bottom and took on water. Captain Purdy is buried in the Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery in Hautot-Sur-Mer, France.

Flight Sergeant Douglas Oliver Bevan
Died Dec. 25, 1942

Douglas Bevan was born in 1913, the son of a Methodist minister and his wife. Bevan attended Mount Royal College in the 1930s, was a teacher and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941. His training school noted that he was “keen, ambitious, should do a good job… cheerful and philosophical under difficulties.” Flight Sergeant Bevan was lost at sea on Dec. 25, 1942 at the age of 29 while serving with the Bomber Command flying out of Montreal. He is remembered on the Nanton Cenotaph in Alberta and on the Ottawa Memorial in Ontario. He has no known grave.

Warrant Officer II Frank Harvey Barker
Died Jan. 9, 1943

Harvey Barker came to Calgary from Carbon, Alta. to attend Mount Royal College in 1938. He returned in 1939 and was elected president of the High School class. The Chinook Yearbook gives this portrait of Barker: “a Badminton player deluxe. One of the best-liked fellows of the Boys’ Dorm, and always ready with a bright comeback to the would-be wit of the school. Studies hard, often working far into the night on his stamp collection.” The next year, Barker joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as Warrant Officer, Class II, 4189 Squadron and was killed during a raid over Germany when he went missing over enemy waters. Warrant Officer Barker is buried in the Runnymede Memorial Cemetery in the United Kingdom.

Flying Officer Benjamin Emil Ehnisz
Died Feb. 13, 1943

Benjamin Ehnisz was born in 1921 and came to Mount Royal in 1938 from Burstall, S.K. The Chinook Yearbook describes Ben as “a very amiable lad whose ambition on completing his education is to return to Saskatchewan and rehabilitate the drought area.” Flying Officer Ehnisz joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and died on Feb. 13, 1943 at the age of 22. The student he was instructing survived the fire when Ehnisz ordered him to bail out. Ehnisz is buried at Hillside Cemetery in Medicine Hat. Ehnisz Island at Kakabigish Lake in northern Saskatchewan is named in his honour.

Flying Officer Benjamin Emil Ehnisz Military Memorial Bursary generously funded by Maurice and Nicole McCaig.

Flying Officer Harold James Crowe
Died March 12, 1943

Harold Crowe was born in Calgary in 1919. He attended Earl Grey School, Western Canada High School and Mount Royal College and was a druggist apprentice. In May 1941, Crowe enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in Calgary, and received his training in camps across Western Canada. Crowe graduated as an Air Observer from No. 7 Bombing and Gunnery School in Paulson, Man. Flying Officer Crowe was killed on March 12, 1943 at the age of 24 and is commemorated at the Gibraltar Memorial in Gibralter.

Wing Commander Albin Laut
Died Oct. 3, 1943

Albin Laut was born in 1916, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Laut of Crossfield, Alta. His father was a well-known rancher and MLA for Banff/Cochrane. Laut attended Mount Royal College in the 1930s, then transferred to the University of Saskatchewan where he earned an Engineering Degree in 1938. When Laut returned to Alberta, he married and enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Wing Commander Laut died Oct. 3, 1943 in the crash of Ventura aircraft while serving with the #113 Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron at Sydney, N.S. In 1948, Mount Laut, near the headwaters of the Athabasca River, was named in his honour.

Wing Commander Albin Laut Military Memorial Bursary generously funded by the Laut family. 

Lieutenant Campbell Stuart Munro
Died Dec. 16, 1943

Campbell Munro was born in Winnipeg, Man. and attended Mount Royal College before joining the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), serving as Lieutenant with the Royal Canadian Infantry Corps. Lieutenant Munro was killed on Dec. 16, 1943 when his vehicle hit a landmine and is buried at the Moro River Canadian War Cemetery in Italy. In Alberta, Lieutenant Munro is remembered at Lake Munro, which was named in his honour, and at a cairn on Rich Lake, east of Lac La Biche. In Calgary, the PPCLI Memorial Hall also honours Lieutenant C.S. Munro.

Flight Sergeant George Quist Hansen
Died April 28, 1944

George Hansen was born in 1916 in Standard, Alta, the son of Danish immigrants who came to Canada from the United States and eventually settled in Alberta. His father, a successful merchant, served as mayor of Standard from 1926 to 1935 and sent George to Mount Royal College. Flight Sergeant Hansen was the first person from Standard to enlist. He joined the 431 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force and was killed when the Halifax Bomber, on which he was a crew member, was shot down near Antwerp, Belgium. Hansen is buried by the Germans at Schoonselhof Cemetery in Antwerpen-Deurne, Belgium, an enemy cemetery. Three of his brothers also served during the war: Walter in the RCAF, Rudy and Severin with the Calgary Highlanders.

Pilot Officer Douglass Smith Kirkwood
Died May 22, 1944

Pilot Officer Douglass Smith Kirkwood was born in Calgary and attended Mount Royal College for five years before moving to Edmonton to receive a degree in Geology from the University of Alberta. Kirkwood was stationed overseas with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was part of the seven man crew of the Avro Lancaster LL960 HW-D plane from 100 Squadron which took off from Royal Air Force Station Grimsby, Country Lincolnshire, England, just before 11 p.m. on May 21, 1944. The plane was on its first mission as part of a large raid on the city of Duisburg, Germany, when it was hit in the bomb bay, exploded and went into an uncontrollable descent. Kirkwood was 22 at the time of his death.

Gunner Kenneth Beaumont Bell
Died May 29, 1944

Kenneth Bell was born in 1916 in Gleichen, Alta. He received his early schooling in a one-room school and came to Mount Royal College at the age of 12. In 1929, he returned home to work on the family farm. Bell was a strong athlete. He played hockey in the winter and, after he enlisted in 1943, Bell became a star pitcher for the fastball team at training camp in Manitoba. During the war, he served as a gunner with the 2nd Field Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery. Gunner Bell was killed in 1944 at the age of 28 at the Battle of Ortona, Italy. He is buried at the Cassino War Cemetery in Italy.

Sergeant Frederick Ernest Boalch
Died Feb. 12, 1945

Frederick Boalch was born in 1924, the son of E.H. Boalch, who was employed with the CPR in Calgary. In 1943, Boalch attended Mount Royal College, where he kept his fellow students entertained with his band, performing at the February Hockey Club dance. According to the Varshicom Yearbook, Freddie’s pastime was “his own lit’ orchestra” and not surprisingly his ambition was “to become a great band leader.” Sergeant Boalch left Mount Royal to join the Royal Canadian Air Force and died near the end of the war on his 21st birthday, Feb. 12, 1945. Boalch is buried at the Ottawa Memorial in Ontario.

Lieutenant Denis Frederick Harvey
Died Feb. 16, 1945

Denis Harvey was born in Calgary, the only son of Lillian Patterson Harvey, a native Albertan, and Irish-born Brigadier General Frederick Harvey, a distinguished and decorated veteran of the First and Second World Wars. Denis Harvey attended Mount Royal College in 1940, and served on the executive of the Science and Mathematics Club. Known to his friends as “Red” Harvey, he joined the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and was killed near Germany on Feb. 16, 1945. Lieutenant Harvey is buried in the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands. Within the cemetery stands the Groesbeek Memorial, engraved with the words Pro amicis mortui amicis vivimus — “We live in the hearts of friends for whom we died.”

Pilot Officer Lloyd George Hinch
Died March 19, 1945

Lloyd Hinch was born in 1923 in Winnipeg, Man. and attended Mount Royal College in 1942. The Varshicom Yearbook emphasizes that Hinch had a fondness for dramatics: “At formals he’s a second Fred Astaire / A dapper gent with never a care.” Pilot Officer Hinch joined the 425 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force and, at age 22 he was killed on March 19, 1945, near the end of the Second World War during a bombing raid in Germany, when two planes collided. Hinch is buried at Hotton War Cemetery in Belgium.

Captain George Garry Foster
Died Aug. 9, 1974

George Foster attended Mount Royal College from 1948 to 1952. The Varshicom Yearbook speculated that Foster would become a chemist “if his Chem I exploits are any forecast.” After Mount Royal, Foster married and had two sons. He enjoyed a distinguished career in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Captain Foster earned the Canadian Forces Decoration, Memorial Cross ER 11 and United Nations Disengagement Observer Force. He died while flying from Beirut to Damascus with the “Buffalo Nine,” named after the Canadian-made Buffalo airplane. In 2005, a monument was unveiled at Calgary’s Peacekeeper Park to honour Captain Foster and the eight soldiers who died alongside him in the largest single-day loss of life in Canadian Forces peacekeeping history.

Captain Vincent Leslie Schurman
Died July 22, 1993

Vince Schurman served as a Captain Pilot with #435 Transport and Rescue Squadron on CAF Peacekeeping duties. #435 Squadron’s mandate includes air to air refueling of fighter aircraft as well as transporting freight and passengers worldwide. Born in Ponoka on June 28, 1961, he enlisted in the armed forces January 7, 1987 following graduation as a pilot from Mount Royal College. Captain Schurman flew more than 100 missions during six tours of duty in war torn Sarajevo and flew supplies to isolated Kurds in northern Iraq. He was one of five Canadian airmen killed in action when their C130 aircraft crashed at CFB Wainwright during a low-altitude parachute extraction exercise. A meticulous craftsman, Vince was in the process of building his own 2 place high performance Q2 aircraft. He left behind his father, mother and brother Stan, Carol, and Brad; his wife Joanne and 3 year old daughter Lindsay.

Corporal Nathan Hornburg
Died Sept. 24, 2007

Nathan Hornburg was born in Calgary on June 19, 1983, the son of Michael Hornburg and Linda Loree, and brother of Rachel Herbert. From 2004 to 2006, Hornburg was a University Transfer student at Mount Royal College. On June 27, 2001, Hornburg joined the Kings Own Calgary Regiment. On September 24, 2007, while serving on a NATO mission in Afghanistan, Corporal Hornburg was killed while helping to rescue a disabled tank in Panjwai District, Kandahar. Hornburg’s tank commander noted that he was one of “those rare individuals that just had a very soft, big, caring heart, but who was also a warrior and a professional.”